DubDee

yeah one game in 6 months is too much.  best rest them up

and the quote "we now know we are going to be competative this year" are you for real?  so you expect us to be good based on that one practice match?

just like when we beat geelong away last year and then lost to bombers and Blues.  

Gee I hope the Dees do not have this soft, defeatist attitude.  what if they injured?  they could just as easily get injured in training - eg elliot, swallow, jones etc

we need to get this young team playing together at every possible chance, how many games has our best players under 21 played together?

Great win. Was very impressed that we didn't let port come back. 

Thought harmes was good. Gave high hope for that kid

kennedy surprised me in a good way

viney had 28 and 16 contested in a short game. Equivalent of a 40 touch game

kent, van denburg, Salem Oliver etc make me excited!!

Gee Jordie Mckenzie has improved his disposal

19 minutes ago, jumbo returns said:

I'm not as relaxed as you and you know my reasons.

I point to other players who were chased by opposition clubs - apart from Cloke, there was no hesitation to go elsewhere.

Cripps - signs again

Sidebottom - ready to commit

Pavlich - has resisted huge offers from both Port and the Crows for many years

Many, many more I've missed....

Why can't Hogan (who has an ability to speak, I hope) come out and say he's going to sign, but not until after a season of footy behind him?

Why create knots in the underpants?

 

scully said as much the year he left. words mean nothing

Hogan cant predict the future so doesnt want to say something he might regret even if he is 99% sure.  fair enough i reckon

6 minutes ago, old dee said:

I did not want to go back to far DubDee so you agree?

I agree mate.  reasonable.

one can only dream of 'good'

I might be on my own but I reckon footy is in a good state.  I really enjoy watching it (despite being a Dees fan). Last year the race for the flag was quite open, 5-6 teams could have won it and I think it will be even more open this year.  the race for the top 8 will go down to 13-14th position i reckon

areas for improvement sure. 

5 minutes ago, old dee said:

I am home but you don't believe we finally have "a reasonable list"?

change 6 years to 10 and I'll believe you!

The Butcher Cup.  

Let's see if he can sneak one in for a point.

Port's team looks better on paper - more quality mature players, even without Dixon and Ryder.

will be great to Oliver, Wagner.  also Hunt and Frost

3 players to be dropped from the squad by satdy: maybe M Jones, O Mac and ANB?

the team has a real young feel to it. not many over 24, in fact, not that many over 22 yo!

the headlines in the papers are a disgrace.  NEVER before has a player with 2 year left on a contract had the headline:  "talks put off til the end of season".  that phrase always refers to a player having one season left on their contract.  the casual observer (idiot) that doesnt read the article will look at that and say - oh Hogan is gone.   just puts pressure on hogan and is negative publicity for the Dees.  The media always kicks clubs when they are down (aside from the bombers).  when we win a few they'll be the first to jump on the bandwagon saying we will make the top 4.

such lazy, biased journalism

No question, Hogan. 

Could be the best player to ever play for Dees. Massive call obviously. He could actually destroy teams this year if we give him some service and lift the inside 50 count

One thing is for sure, it's officially time to panic!!

6 minutes ago, Curry & Beer said:

does that mean if they get 7 on the nose you get half, ie $1.33 ?

nah you just get your money back.  you neither won nor lost

had a look on sportsbet, no luck.  they usually have hundreds of markets for AFL

incidentally: Gawn is paying $12 to be AA and Hoges is paying $23 to take out the coleman.

i like those odds

also think Mills at $8 is a monty for the rising star

how many games have Salem, Kent, Hogan, Tyson and Viney played together?  answer - not many.

Man im excited to watch these guys play together and get on the same wavelength.  aside from Hoges all had injuries last year

think its fair to assume the following wont be available for the seniors round one:

JT, Dawes, Newton, Petracca, Lumumba.  with petracca and Lumumba back soon after round one once they play some casey for match fitness

Vince should be right.  So overall not too bad.  JT was never going to be right and we wont miss Dawes or Newton much

so you can be banned from a sport for taking drugs and then make money off it in the media while you are banned?   wtf

that the Hawks are even considering Fitzy as a replacement for Roughy just shows what a massive hit it is for them (no offence Fitz)

i imagine they will just play two rucks, mcevoy and ceglar and Fitz will only get a run if more injuries occur

good luck to him. but he had chance at the Dees and this was in years when we had amazing forwards lines including Rivers, Garland, Frawley

So, not one plausible reason listed yet.

The lack of respect shown to a club champion is embarressing. The thread from last week was full of it.

He was reluctantly talked into helping the club appoint the coaches.

I would give my right nut to have a player such as Lyon to play in the current team with hoges. Great leadership, such skill, some of the best kicking for goal ive seen. rewatch 1994 final against dogs if you don't recall how good he was. Ten goals in 3/4s. He and the Ox were on fire!  Gaz is one of my all-time favs.

1 hour ago, ProDee said:

It depends WHO gets injured.

At our present stage of development we need our best players playing.

Obviously, some sides can carry injuries better than we presently do.  We're still the third youngest team in the competition.  How do you think we cope with injuries to our better players ?

You are familiar with the fact that Sydney won a flag when they barely changed their side for about 8 weeks in a row leading into a finals series ?

That's why I mentioned our best players didn't get injured. We should be able to cope with injuries to our mid-level players. We should have greater depth of senior players this year. 

My other point is that people saying we'll improve as Frost and Salem should play a full season. This doesn't make sense to me as other players will no doubt get injured

obviously I agree that the less injuries you have the greater the chance to win

I think we need to stop using injuries as an excuse or a reason we will improve. Several teams had a worse run last year like WC, lions, Suns, pies. Aside from Viney none of our top 5-7 players were injured eg vince jones t Mac. Injuries happen every year and although we had a fair few injuries we need to be able to cope with this. 

Like it or not we will have 5 or 6 injuries at most times from round 1 as it is the nature of the game. 

I'm so torn on this season. We will certainly improve but nearly every other team will also improve. Anything could happen which is exciting in itself and we couldn't have said this in years gone by. We could win anything from 6 to 13 games IMO. 

the season is so short that it makes the afl so unpredictable. I have port and the pies 100% in the 8 as much as I hate to say that. I reckon the eight could change this year more than any other year. 

This is a blow for us if he can't play much this season. If pedo gets injured as he tends to do then we are very short in the KPF area. I am hoping frost can turn himself into a decent fwd but I am not convinced on the little I've seen. Looks more of a natural defender. Poor kicking for goal and average marking. Again this is all based off 3 games so I'm hoping he can do better. 

Looks loke The Weed and Hulett will get chances. 

With the sub going as well maybe we will see Gawn and Speno playing together more

Man it was enjoyable to watch that Geelong win again. So many great games from our youngsters. Viney, Gawn, brayshaw especially. So hard at it

Can't wait for the season to start!

This could be the year when we prove a lot of people wrong and after the past decade of agony watching us play, by God it will be sweet. 

Essendon will be lucky to win 3 games for the season. There will be distractions galore with law suits and players thinking of leaving. Eg hooker free agent. They have picked up players that not one of the 18 teams wanted even on their rookie list and suddenly they'll be good? Seriously. Why would these guys give a rats. It's just a pay check for kelly, stokes etc. 

i hope the Dons and Carlton stay on the bottom for years.